DENVER – Sprinkled on doughnuts, mixed into milkshakes or infused into olive oil, make no mistake: Cannabis is coming to a kitchen near you.

Chefs across the country say cannabis-infused food and drinks are the top two dining trends they expect to see unfold in 2019, although we’re not talking about food that will get you “high" – these are products made with CBD, a non-psychoactive compound extracted from cannabis plants that enthusiasts say offers health benefits while tempting the palate.

"I'm telling you, 75 percent of my clientele is doctors, nurses and lawyers," said Josh Schwab, 45, whose Denver-area doughnut shop, Glazed & Confuzed, makes a CBD-frosted doughnut topped with a candied hemp leaf and sells more than 30 each weekend day. "You get all the relaxation without the head high. It kinda just takes the edge off."

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Maxwell Reis, beverage director serves a drink containing Cannabidol CBD extract with a marijuana leaf motif at the Gracias Madre restaurant in West Hollywood, Calif. The hemp-derived CBD extract is popping up in everything, from cosmetics to chocolate bars to bottled water to bath bombs to pet treats. Damian Dovarganes/AP

In this September 2018 Clarenda "Cee" Stanley-Anderson and her husband, Malcolm Anderson Sr., promote their hemp-farming business, Green Heffa Farms, Inc., in Liberty, N.C. Hemp is about to get the federal legalization that marijuana, its cannabis cousin, craves. That unshackling at the national level sets the stage for greater expansion in an industry seeing explosive growth through demand for CBDs, the non-psychoactive compound in hemp that many see as a way to better health. Green Heffa Farms, Inc./Donald Rex Bishop via AP

The first rendering from hemp plants extracted from a super critical CO2 extraction device on it's way to becoming fully refined CBD oil spurts into a large beaker at New Earth Biosciences in Salem, Ore. The hemp industry still has work ahead to win legal status for hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD oil in this April 24, 2018, file photo. The head of the Food and Drug Administration says adding CBD to food or dietary supplements is still illegal. President Donald Trump signed a farm bill designating hemp as an agricultural crop, but FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb issued a statement saying CBD is a drug ingredient and therefore illegal to add to food or supplements without approval from his agency. Don Ryan, AP

Jordin Hoefler, left, hands out a free dark chocolate edible to Tyler Rhodes, center, and Spencer Rhodes, right, during the CBD Express grand opening in Salem, Ore on April 20, 2018 photo. The business sells CBD oils and CBD products. Applications for state licenses to grow hemp, marijuana’s non-intoxicating cousin, have increased more than twentyfold since 2015 and Oregon now ranks No. 2 behind Colorado among the 19 states with hemp cultivation. TIMOTHY J. GONZALEZ, AP

Pollen is removed from a hemp plant at the Unique Botanicals facility in Springfield, Ore. on April 24, 2018. A glut of legal marijuana has driven pot prices to rock-bottom levels in Oregon, and an increasing number of nervous growers are pivoting to another type of cannabis to make ends meet - hemp. Don Ryan, AP

Corey Decker, with Northern Roots Nursery and Brand Ambassador for hemp-inspired women’s clothing company Mary Maven VT, shows off Northern Root’s CBD hemp green house at Heady Vermont’s legalization celebration at Willow Farm in Johnson, VT, on July 1, 2018, the first day or marijuana legalization in Vermont. The FDA also approved the use of a drug derived from marijuana for the first time Monday, giving the go ahead to treat two rare forms of epilepsy with the compound cannabidiol, also known as CBD, found in hemp and marijuana. RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS

Lori Hofer, the co-owner of The Cereal Box restaurant in Arvada, Colorado, makes a bowl of cereal for a customer near a sign telling customers that the shop can add CBD powder to cereal, milkshakes and coffee.
Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK

A donut topped with a CBD-infused glaze, a candied hemp leaf and a piece of gingerbread sits on a tray at Glazed & Confuzed donuts in the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, Colorado.
Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK

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Jonathan Eppers, 35, has seen the rocketing CBD interest firsthand: Launched a year ago from Los Angeles, his CBD-infused Vybes drinks are available in 19 states, including New York and Florida, in flavors such as blueberry mint and blackberry lavender.

"I was tired of living every day anxious. I wanted to be more present and calm. That’s what CBD does for me," said Eppers, whose fledgling company sold more than 1.1 million bottles last year.

Lori Hofer, co-owner of The Cereal Box restaurant in Arvada, Colorado, prepares a bowl for a customer near a sign telling customers that the shop can add CBD powder to cereal, milkshakes and coffee.(Photo11: Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK)

The survey of chefs was part of an annual poll for the National Restaurant Association, which checked with more than 650 professional chefs. Of those, 77 percent said CBD drinks are the No. 1 trend they see for 2019, followed by CBD foods.

Zero-waste kitchens were the third top trend identified by the chefs, who are all members of the American Culinary Federation and who previously singled out artisanal cheese, house-made condiments and savory desserts.

Heads-up: These same chefs say pretzels in desserts are on their way out.

Hudson Riehle, 65, the restaurant association's senior research director, said it's too early to tell whether CBD is just a fad that will fade into history like molecular gastronomy or meals served in mason jars. U.S. restaurants are an $850-billion-a-year industry that employs about 15 million people, and the daily conversations chefs have with customers help inform the survey, Riehle said.

Because CBD products are often derived from hemp, which is usually imported but is legal nationally, diners can expect to see CBD on menus across the USA, although specific regulations vary.

Although there's relatively little peer-reviewed research available on CBD's health benefits, its fans say it can help treat insomnia, anxiety, pain and seizures. Others say it provides mild relaxation without intoxication. (Marijuana-infused foods are a different story.)

At Colorado's The Cereal Box, where customers can add a taste-free $3 scoop of CBD powder to their cereal, coffee or milkshake, co-owner Lori Hofer said she spends a lot of time explaining the difference between CBD and THC, the marijuana compound that gets you high.

She said Colorado customers tend to know more about CBD because the state has been at the forefront of marijuana legalization for so many years.

"We have to tell them 'This is not something you're going to get high from,'" said Hofer, 40. "But you get a moms group in here with a bunch of kids and she might want some CBD."

The Food and Drug Administration says anyone making specific health claims about hemp-derived CBD products must first submit them for review, and it says marijuana-derived CBD products remain illegal at the federal level, no matter whether they're legal in states. CBD is short for cannabinoidol, one of the many compounds in both hemp and marijuana plants, which are collectively known as cannabis.

Marijuana research firm Greenwave Advisors predicted the CBD industry could reach $3 billion by 2021 and eventually more than $200 billion a year in the USA. A farm bill that legalized U.S.-grown hemp could fuel CBD industry growth in the coming years.

Glazed & Confuzed donuts founder and CEO Josh Schwab frosts a donut with CBD-infused glaze at his shop in the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, Colorado, before topping each with a candied hemp leaf and gingerbread cutout.
(Photo11: Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes-USA TODAY NETWORK)

At Otium in Los Angeles, bartender Chris Amirault makes several drinks with CBD, including the Pineapple Express, which is based on a Negroni, and the Blue Dream, a spiked Mai Tai. Though many CBD products are made with odorless, tasteless powder, Amirault, 30, uses CBD oil, which he says gives an unmistakably "herbaceous" taste: "Guests are all about it. They’re extremely curious."

Longtime CBD evangelist Joel Stanley, 39, said he has watched for years as CBD slowly gained recognition, first for treating seizures in children, then more broadly for aches and pains, relaxation and anxiety. Some pet owners champion CBD products for aging animals struggling with joint pain.

"We're just at the tip of the iceberg of what CBD and cannabinoids can offer," said Stanley, chairman and co-founder of Colorado-based Charlotte's Web, which was featured in a 2013 CNN documentary for its work with a young girl suffering from severe seizures. "We're going to find out what all these tools can do after being prohibited for so many years."

A sign on a display at a Denver-area pet store lists claimed health benefits of CBD, a component of hemp and marijuana plants.(Photo11: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY)